The Role of Renewable Energy in Reducing Carbon Emissions

Carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas are the primary cause of global climate change. To prevent further damage to the environment, the world needs to rapidly shift towards cleaner energy sources that don’t produce greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable forms of power like solar, wind and hydroelectric are critical for reducing our carbon footprint.

The Carbon Emissions Problem

For over a century, fossil fuels have been the dominant source of energy used for electricity generation, transportation, heating and industry around the world. The process of extracting and burning these fuels releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.

Excess CO2 acts like a blanket, trapping the sun’s heat and causing average global temperatures to rise – a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. This warming of the climate system is triggering rising sea levels, extreme weather events, threats to agriculture, fresh water scarcity and loss of biodiversity.

Why Renewable Energy Matters

In contrast to fossil fuels, renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal and certain biofuels produce little to no carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. The experts at Commonwealth say that harnessing renewable power instead of coal or oil can significantly reduce CO2 and other harmful greenhouse gases in several key ways:

Electricity Generation

Most electricity today still comes from burning fossil fuels, which account for around 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Transitioning power plants to renewable sources like solar farms, wind turbines or hydroelectric dams eliminates these emissions from the sector.

Transportation

After electricity, transportation is the second biggest source of emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicles. Shifting to renewable power for electric vehicles, trains, ships and planes will drastically cut these CO2 levels.

Manufacturing/Industry

Countless products we use every day contribute to carbon emissions during their manufacturing process for powering factories and machinery. Relying more on renewable power reduces these industrial emissions.

Heating/Cooling

Heating homes and businesses by burning natural gas, propane or oil produces carbon pollution as well. Renewable electricity and solar heating can make this a zero-carbon sector.

Benefits of Renewable Power

Besides cutting carbon emissions, renewable energy sources have other advantages that make them superior to continued reliance on fossil fuels:

Sustainability

Sources like sunlight, wind and water are unlimited renewable resources that won’t ever run out, unlike finite fossil fuel supplies. This ensures long-term sustainability.

Domestic Production

Renewable power uses domestic energy sources like solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal within the United States, rather than importing fuels from other countries. This boosts energy independence and security.

Environmental Impact

Beyond just carbon emissions, fossil fuel extraction and use also release pollutants hazardous to human health and the environment. Renewable technologies are emission-free and environmentally friendly.

Economic Opportunities

Development of renewable energy sources creates many new industries and jobs in fields like solar installation, wind turbine operation and manufacturing of components.

Renewable Energy’s Role

Ultimately, renewable power sources will need to entirely replace fossil fuels worldwide to stop carbon emissions and limit the worst effects of climate change. But this massive undertaking requires coordinated global efforts on multiple fronts to accelerate energy transitions:

• Technological innovations to improve efficiencies and reduce costs for solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric and energy storage.
• Building extensive new renewable power plants, transmission lines and infrastructure.
• Carbon pricing policies that make emissions more expensive compared to renewables.
• Government incentives and market-based strategies to further promote adoption of renewable energy sources.

Conclusion

While challenges exist, renewable power generation has already made significant inroads and continues rapidly expanding around the world. With sustained commitment and action, 100% renewable energy which eliminates carbon emissions is an achievable goal for creating a sustainable future.